Snow on Palomar Mountain

Flower Fields open in Carlsbad

The annual opening day, March 1, at the Carlsbad Flower Fields was not as colorful as it has been in years past, but visitors who braved the inclement weather and were willing to walk to the extreme ends of the fields were rewarded with a hillside of petunias on one end and a robust field of ranunculi on the other end. Photography by Peggy Peattie/UT San Diego

Students on Trial

About 450 San Diego County high school students participated in the annual San Diego County High School Mock Trial Competition at the downtown courthouse, February 28, 2015 Photography by Howard Lipin/U-T San Diego

Silver Bay Kennel Show

Sunday was the final day of the annual Silver Bay Kennel Club Dog Show held at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. The best of the best were singled out in a variety of breeds. Photography by Peggy Peattie/UT San Diego

Beagle brigade arrives

A team of their own

When 14-year-old Isaiah Granet started the youth hockey team San Diego Chill for developmentally disabled children, he just wanted the kids to have a team of their own. It started with two players and has grown to 25 with much of the community volunteering. Photography by Nelvin C. Cepeda

The Marvel Experience

Comic-book aficionados headed to The Marvel Experience at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, February 7, 2015. The experience, a 90-minute interactive show, which takes participants through various levels of training that involve climbing up walls, going through a laser maze and interacting with 3D superheroes and villains. Photography by Howard Lipin

Escondido's dancing stars

Vista High's Ag. Dept. honored

Vista High School was one of just two agricultural programs recognized for community service by the Future Farmers of America. Vista High was a recipient of the FFA: Food For All grant, and FFA recognized just two chapters for outstanding results from the grants.

Monk on bee-tending mission

Spanish Revival home in Cardiff

The original house was a modest 1,000-square-foot structure built in 1961 on a .18 acre lot in Cardiff-by-the-Sea. In 2005 a contractor/builder doubled the square footage, gutted much of the interior and transformed it into a Spanish Revival-style house. The owners have decorated the home with artifacts from their travels to Ireland, Chile, Peru, Tahiti, and Vietnam.

Sudsing up with Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps

Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps made famous in the 1960s are still cleaning up with their ALL-ONE Love and Peace philosophy. They gave participants in the Spartan Race 2015 at Vail Lake Resort in Temecula showers of peppermint flavored foaming soap at the end of the race, January 17, 2015. Photography by Howard Lipin

Staging a home in Poway

Surf Air, one price all-you-can-fly airline

Surf Air, a private membership one price all-you-can-fly airline, is now flying out of Carlsbad's Palomar Airport. Members have access to unlimited flights to the airline's 8 locations in California, including Las Vegas.

Hole in One Challenge assists vets.

Wedding Ringer Stars at Miramar

The stars of the new movie, "The Wedding Ringer," Kevin Hart, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting and Josh Gad were on the hand at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, January 10, 2015, for a screening for Marines and their families. The movie opens in theaters January 16. Photography by Howard Lipin/U-T San Diego/ Twitter @hlipin

Rowe gets probation

Kathleen Rowe terrorized a married couple Jerry Rice and Janice Ruhter after they purchased a home that she wanted. Rowe placed an ad impersonating Ruhter soliciting sex and gave out Ruhter's address. Rowe was convicted of soliciting rape and was sentenced to five years probation.

ESCONDIDO  A man was seriously injured Thursday when his motorcycle was struck by an SUV, Escondido police said. The collision involving a Chevrolet Suburban occurred about 3:45 p.m. at the intersection of Second Avenue and Kalmia Street A 36-year-old Escondido woman was driving the SUV north on Kalmia. She had stopped at a stop sign, but then drove into the intersection into the motorcyclist’s path, police Lt. Justin Murphy said. The rider, a 46-year-old ...

A crowd of roughly 75 vocal teachers, students and parents - some carrying placards -- came out Thursday to support a popular middle school principal in the Escondido Union School District who has been on a leave of absence since early December, demanding that the board of trustees return him to his position. Mission Middle School Principal Jon Centofranchi has been absent from the school since early December, without explanation. The five-member board, when it ...

LOS ANGELES  Charles “Chase” Merritt, accused of killing the McStay family of Fallbrook, said in a jail interview with ABC7 Los Angeles that he expects to be acquitted in the case, the television station reported. Rob McMillan, the station’s Inland Empire bureau chief, said in a story aired on ABC7 Thursday night that he talked to Merritt for nearly 90 minutes at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga. It was Merritt’s first jail ...

CARMEL VALLEY  The Torrey Pines High School Foundation is encouraging alumni and parents to get involved ahead of its fundraising event next month celebrating the school’s 40th anniversary. “We have a lot to celebrate from the past 40 years and we are hoping to have a large alumni turnout at the event this year,” foundation Executive Director Bobbi Karlson said in a statement. “We are striving to break attendance records for this event by ...

Following pressure from parents, the San Dieguito Union High School District is drafting a policy to allow students to switch teachers when they clash or don’t meet their curriculum needs, according to district officials. The district’s board of trustees discussed the policy at a Thursday meeting after several parents first pitched the policy change at a Feb. 9 board meeting. Many parents complained about run-ins with teachers, with their children struggling with the curriculum and ...

CARLSBAD  Community members can participate in Carlsbad’s second annual neighborhoods empowerment conference, “Carlsbad–Love It!” The free half-day conference on March 21, brings together Carlsbad residents to strengthen the sense of community in their neighborhoods and the city as a whole. The theme of this year’s community gathering is “Working Together to Build and Sustain Healthy Neighborhoods.” The focus of the event is on engaging Carlsbad residents of all ages in the community. Participants can ...

NORTH COUNTY  CARLSBAD Pulitzer Prize nominee will speak at library Acclaimed author Joyce Carol Oates discusses her latest novel “The Sacrifice” from 7 to 8 p.m. Friday at Carlsbad City Library’s Ruby G. Schulman Auditorium, 1775 Dove Lane. Oates, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, is a recipient of the National Medal of Humanities, the National Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award, the National Book Award and the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short ...

OCEANSIDE  Two men who tried to steal about 600 gallons of diesel fuel from a storage tank at an Oceanside concrete company late Wednesday got away from police but left behind a stolen truck. A private security officer told police he saw two men forcing entry through the gate at Superior Concrete Company on Oceanside Boulevard near Town Center shortly before 9:30 p.m. and begin to siphon fuel, said Oceanside police Lt. Valencia Saadat. ...

The Oceanside Unified School District will restructure tens of millions of dollars in bond debt to help reignite a long-stalled school construction program initially created eight years ago when district voters passed a $198 million bond measure. The Oceanside school board voted unanimously Tuesday to move ahead with the restructuring plan, which would free up roughly $100 million in untapped funds from the 2008 bond, known as Proposition H. The plan, however, packs a punch ...

CARLSBAD  Officers are looking for a good Samaritan who witnessed a Feb. 14 hit-and-run crash that left a bicyclist with a concussion, and a sign twirler who also may have seen the collision, Carlsbad police said Wednesday. A black 2005 BMW 530i struck the rider near La Costa Avenue and Piraeus Street about 10 a.m. and the driver fled, police Lt. Mickey Williams said. An unidentified woman driving an SUV got the vehicle's license ...

CARLSBAD  Animal rights activists say they plan to protest in front of a Carlsbad pet store on Saturday as part of an effort to get the city to adopt a ban on the sale of commercially bred pets that some call “puppy mill” dogs. In 2013, the Carlsbad City Council waffled on an ordinance that would have banned retail pet sales. Activists who recently convinced the Oceanside City Council to adopt such a ban ...

NORTH COUNTY  CARDIFF Club to screen Italian films Friday The LIFE at San Elijo Club lifelong learning group will present an Italian foreign film, “Loose Cannons,” with English subtitles from 1 to 3 p.m. Friday at the San Elijo campus of MiraCosta College, 3333 Manchester Ave. The story tells of a man who, on a trip home to Southern Italy, decides to tell his parents the truth about himself — only to have his ...

VISTA  Parking along a stretch of Civic Center Drive south of Vista’s City Hall will be erased for good in the next few months to make room for new bike lanes. The City Council voted Tuesday night to create the so-called buffered bike lanes — which put more distance between cyclists and vehicle traffic — as part of Vista’s recently approved Bicycle Master Plan. Part of that plan calls for removing street parking on ...

A 37-year-old man was arrested Tuesday night in San Marcos on suspicion of attacking a woman and two other victims, officials said. Deputies went to check on a resident in an apartment complex on South Twin Oaks Valley Road near Village Drive shortly after 8 p.m. when they heard a woman screaming. They determined the woman who answered the door was a victim of a domestic-violence assault and she was taken by ambulance to a ...

Public school districts throughout San Diego County are demanding relief from soaring electricity rates that they estimate could cost them a combined $30 million more this year than last year and siphon money from critical student services just as the state’s recovering economy is funding education again. Officials from all 42 school districts in the county met with San Diego Gas & Electric Co. executives last week to vent their frustration and reiterate their plan ...

NORTH COUNTY  Sheriff's deputies, volunteers and a specialized U.S. Border Patrol team resumed their search Wednesday morning for a missing hiker whose gear was believed found in a remote area north of Warner Springs. Chris Sylvia, 28, of Vista, left the Anza Borrego area on Feb. 12 for a solo hike. He had planned to meet a friend in Lost Valley on Feb. 17 to get fresh supplies, but never showed up, sheriff's officials ...